The New Arrivals
by Rikki Tivursky
Summary: Set a few years after the books, some new faces appear at the Spiderwick estate and shortly after Fey activity starts popping up, will these new residences be dragged into something they know nothing about?


**The New Arrivals**

S_piderwick Chronicle's Fic_

_By: Rikki T_

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own Spiderwick Chronicles Story or characters, but I do however have ownership over Natalie Kaden, Hazel Wright, and Julie Stanson._

**I. IN WHICH Natalie Arrives At the Estate**

It was a late fall day, the trees were changing with colors of yellow, red, and brown. There was a growing chill in the air as the colder winds were starting to settle in.

Natalie Kaden was sitting in the back of a station wagon with her forehead pressed against the glass of the window as she stared blankly at the scenery passing by. Normally she would be enthralled to watch the beautiful changing of the leaves but her mind was off somewhere else thinking about her current predicament. Around her in the car was a suitcase in the back, an old duffle bag by her feet and a small pet carrier next to her on the seat. Having those things would give off the idea that she was going to visit some out of town relative but it was exactly the opposite. It seemed she was being moved to someplace she had never heard of before and the strange part was she was moving by herself, no one else in her family was coming along. She couldn't quite understand why she had to leave her old home in her old town that she was very familiar with for some new house with a family she didn't even know.

But apparently her previously getting into a bit of trouble had made the court authorities decide that she needed somewhere she could make a new start without any temptations to break rules.

So she was being shipped off to some house that had joined the 'Relocation to prevent Teenage Crime' or something like that she hadn't really paid attention when they explained it to her. All she had been focused on was that she was supposed to pack up some of her things and be ready to get picked up. Even though she really didn't want to she knew that she didn't have any other choice so she packed up most of the stuff she wanted to bring with her. Oh course she was bringing along her cat, Lue he was her best friend and she couldn't imagine leaving him behind.

Now that she was finally going to this new 'home' she couldn't help but wonder to herself if this new place was going to be any nicer than the cramped apartment she had been living in. She recalled everything that her case manager had told her about the home, supposedly a small family had moved in a while back, maybe a year or so but they had enough room for her to board with them. She also remembered being told that there was a daughter and two sons in the family. She wondered what they were like…

She had wanted to ask the driver, but she couldn't help feeling that they weren't the talkative type. She sighed at the quiet in the car and hoped that she would at least make a friend when she got there, that wasn't Lue. If she didn't along with them then it would be an awkward experience having to live with them and not being wanted there at all.

Something caught her attention from the corner of her eye and as she looked she noticed an old Victorian house in the distance, she couldn't make out a lot of the detail but in no time they were getting closer to it.

"Here we are, Spiderwick Estate." The driver said turning around and beaming at Natalie. She would have smiled back but she was busy looking at the house

"Wow…" she breathed as she looked at it. The house itself loomed in front of her with its seemingly tall structure, it had three stories to it and the olden Victorian décor had an intimidating effect on her. Maybe it was the age of the house that made it seem so uninviting or maybe it was the rusting iron work around the roof of the house, she could name all sorts of things about the house that might have been the reason, but deep down that was just her not wanting to accept that she was going to leave her old life for a while.

She was so enthralled by the house that for a few moments she couldn't help but focus on only that, but then she was snapped out of it when she heard a muffled meow.

"Oh right!" she said to herself as she turned around and leaned into the open car door and grabbed the pet carrier. She peeked through the gate in the front to check on Lue, who was crouching on his stomach with his tail swishing in the air. She knew he was probably dying to get out of the cramped box he was forced to stay in the whole trip. "Just a little bit longer Lue." She told him in hopes of calming him down.

"You've got everything?" the driver asked her as she pulled out Natalie's suitcase from the trunk and slammed the trunk close.

"Almost." Natalie answered as she grabbed her duffle bag from the floor of the car and carefully lifted the pet carrier with her other hand. She closed the car door with her shoulder and followed after the driver to the end of the walkway to the front door. The driver put down her suitcase with a bit of a thump and then straightened to address Natalie.

"Now here's where I leave you." She said and reached out her hand towards Natalie who took it in an awkward handshake. "I hope that I don't come to pick you up anytime soon, alright?" she laughed.

"I'll try my best not to." Natalie said as she gave her a sheepish smile, with that the driver turned around and headed back for the car. Staying where she was Natalie watched her as she got in and turned to wave at her one last time before she drove off leaving her stranded there in the walkway. Taking a moment to inhale deeply she turned to next thing she had to face, she slung her duffle bag over her shoulder more securely and grabbed the handle to her suitcase and tried hoisting it. It was heavier than she expected and she had to put it down for a moment to try again. She grabbed on tightly and took a few steps toward the door. It took her a few more rests but she had finally reached the steps and pushed herself to climb them up which creaked loudly under the weight and to the front door where she gladly dropped her suitcase.

Thankfully her suitcase didn't break through the wood underneath as she thought it would. She then reached out towards the door which she noticed was quite water stained and the paint was peeling and missing in some places. There was also a rusted ram head knocked in the middle of the door which she stared at fascinated. You usually didn't see something like that on doors, but she caught herself and gave a mental scolding of trying to stall. So she grabbed the knocked and banged it twice against the door and waited.

She heard distant voices from behind the door and waited in anticipation for someone to answer the door. As she waited she could hear a particular loud voice which sounded female to her, and then she heard footsteps coming closer towards the door. She quickly looked over herself and made sure that her clothes weren't to wrinkled or dirty looking. You never knew what some people took into consideration when they try to analyze you. Just as she was brushing down the front of her shirt the old door creaked open and standing there was a girl, who looked a few years older than Natalie, her hair was dark and cut into a short bob she was also tall, or at least taller than Natalie who had to look up a little at her.

"Can I help you?" she asked in a rude and hustled tone, Natalie noticed a bag slung over her shoulder and what looked like hilts poking out of the bag. Natalie took a moment to reform her thoughts.

"Y-yeah, my name is Natalie Kaden and I've been-…" she stared to say but before she could finish the older girl cut her off.

"You're one of those teen kids that have been sent here right?" she asked, which surprised Natalie as she thought she was going to be the only one living there from the program.

"Yeah I am." She answered the older girl who had stuck her hand out and she shook it.

"I'm Mallory, my family owns the house." She explained.

"So...um how many others are here? …from the program I mean."

"Two."

"Two?" Natalie asked a little surprised "Is there enough room for us all?"

"Yeah, this house may be old and crappy but it's big enough to fit a few people, I'll show you to your room." She smiled and opened the door more to let Natalie in. Natalie reached down to grab her suitcase but before she could Mallory stepped forward. "Let me help with that." She said and with one swoop picked up the heavy suitcase as if it didn't weigh anything at all, which amazed Natalie; who had trouble with it.

"Thanks." Natalie said as she followed Mallory deeper into the house, looking around the place she found herself being drawn to stare at almost everything. There were so many interesting little things on the walls or being displayed on some sort of stand. She felt as if she had maybe stumbled back in time, but before she could stop and take a good look at some of the things.

Mallory called after her and Natalie turned to see that she was heading for some stairs so she hurried to follow her up them. Once they reached the top of the stairs she led her down a long hallway and up to a slightly polished door. "And here is where you're room is, you'll be sharing it with the two other girls but it's not too cramped." She mentioned as she opened the door.

The room itself was nice even though the air seemed just a tad dusty, but it seemed clean and looking around the room Natalie noticed a bed that had no belongings on it. She walked over and settled her bag and the pet carrier down on to it. Mallory had placed her suitcase by the side of the bed and noticed the pet carrier as Natalie was opening the gate door.

"You have a cat?"

"Yep, his name is Lue." She answered as Lue stepped from the carrier and paused to stretch his lean black body on the bed, as he did so she ran her hand down his back which cause him to purr a bit before he walked to the edge of the bed and explore around the room. "So where is everyone else?"

Mallory shrugged at the question "I believe my dweb of a brother Jared is doing something around the house and Simon is probably outside taking care of some animal. Which I might add he might like your cat."

"And what about the other girls?"

"I think they're exploring around the backyard…but come on I'll introduce you to my mom so she'll know you're here." Mallory said as she walked to the door.

"Sure." Natalie smiled and followed her out of the room.

The two of them walked down the stairs again and took a different path to the kitchen once they walked in Natalie noticed a woman sitting at the kitchen table looking over some documents. She hoped that they weren't bothering her from something important.

"Hey mom another one arrived." Mallory said and the woman looked up to see the two of them standing in the doorway. The woman looked over Natalie and then put down the papers in her hand and slowly got up.

"Why hello there," she said as she walked over and offered her hand to Natalie "I'm Mrs. Grace and I hope you enjoy staying with us." She said cheerfully. Natalie took her hand and shook it.

"I hope so too."

"Why don't you show her around the house a bit?" Mrs. Grace said as she turned to her daughter and Mallory motioned for Natalie to follow her. They left the kitchen through the back door into the backyard, once outside Natalie was amazed at the open space. It was a huge open acre that seemed to lead into some woods; she was amazed at the sight. The thick rows of trees with their multi-colored leaves and the shadows in the trees that seemed to create a mysterious look that made her want to venture into the deep forest. She would at least love the scenery around this place she thought to herself.

"There's one of the other girls over there." Mallory said as she pointed to someone who was off near some trees by the side of the house. Natalie couldn't exactly tell what she was doing but whatever it was it didn't seem all that exciting. "And over there is my brother Simon." And she gestured toward a boy who was bent on the ground picking up some kind of animal. He looked rather nice as he was being very gentle with the animal he was holding and Natalie couldn't help but smile at that a little.

Mallory kept walking and Natalie jogged a little to catch up for some reason she didn't seem to want to meet one of the other girls yet. She was sometimes wary and shy around new people.

"And exactly what are you going to do?" she asked curiously as she noticed the bag still slung over Mallory's shoulder.

"I'm going to practice my fencing." She replied as she came closer to the side of barn looking building.

"Fencing huh? I hear it's pretty useful to know."

"It is, have you ever fenced?"

"Not exactly the closet to fencing I've ever done was when I was nine and we were using old broom sticks." Natalie laughed.

"Well here." Mallory grabbed something from her bag and tossed it over to Natalie who barely caught it. Natalie looked at what Mallory had tossed to her and saw that it was a practicing fencing foil. She looked up at Mallory in confusion. "I'm going to show you some of the basics." She answered.

And then Mallory instructed her where to stand and how to stand properly before they actually started

Mallory had Natalie learning most of the basic moves and terms of fencing until it was close to dinner time and by them Natalie had a few sore spots and at least one possible welt on her hand from where Mallory accidentally struck to hard. As they walked into the kitchen from the back door Natalie was rubbing the red spot as it still sort of stuck but it wasn't as bad anymore.

Natalie slid into a seat at the table and as everyone sat down Mrs. Grace spoke up.

"I'd like to welcome the few boarders we'll be having and I hope that they enjoy their stay here, but along with giving them a place to stay I also expect that they help around the house. Which means keeping it tidy and neat, so there will be chores so then everyone does their part. Now I'd like everyone to introduce themselves before we eat." She said and touched the back of Mallory's chair signally for her to start.

"Hi I'm Mallory." She said and waited for her brother to go on next.

"I'm Simon." He said and now that he was sitting not too far from her Natalie got a better look at him. His hair was dark and neatly combed off to the side a bit. Even looking at him up close she could tell even more that his personally just radiated of being a nice guy.

"And I'm Jared." Replied the other brother and for a moment Natalie looked back over at Simon and then back to Jared. She realized that they were twins, with the exception of their bangs as where Simon combed his Jared let his have a mind of his own.

"My name is Hazel Wright." The girl sitting next to Jared, she had strawberry-blonde hair that stopped just above her shoulders. She seem to have a smile that just made you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside.

"I'm Julie Stanson." said the other girl who was beside Hazel, she like Hazel also had strawberry-blond hair, but the difference was that hers was wavier and it also fell past her shoulders. Natalie also couldn't help but noticed that Julie looked like a good person but there seemed to be a twinkle of mischief in her eyes that told there was more to her than her cover.

"Natalie Kaden." She said pointing her thumb at herself when it was her turn to say who she was.

Once everyone had finished Mrs. Grace started handing out plates as everyone waited to be served, and after dinner everyone dispersed to the living room. Natalie on the other had had went back outside to the backyard to take a look at the night sky for a little while.

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_**Note:** _

_This story has been sitting around for a little bit so if anything seems off, please don't hesitate to tell me. Any other comments or pieces of advice are welcome._


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